Merit & Need Based Aid

Paying for College is expensive! There is no question that higher education costs add up quickly.

There are two broad categories of financial aid – Merit Based aid and Need Based aid.

Merit Based aid is what you think of when you think “Scholarships.” These are usually awarded to students based on academic achievements, leadership, athletics, special talents such as art or music, volunteerism, or other personal qualities that set you apart. These scholarships do not consider financial need. A significant portion of all merit-based aid comes directly from the college/ university. Some schools may require additional scholarship applications, essays, interviews, and many colleges will have earlier deadlines to be considered for their scholarships. It can be helpful to know that a lot of times the smaller, private colleges will have more money available for scholarships in order to help make attending their school competitive with the lower costs of the public colleges. Please also remember that there are scholarship offerings listed on the Counselor Website. It is important to keep an eye out for unique scholarships that might apply to your personal situation. Maye you would qualify for an Italian heritage scholarship. Perhaps one of your grandparents won a purple heart or maybe you have time to write an essay for one of the other scholarship competitions… no matter what the situation, if you find a scholarship that you meet the criteria for go ahead and apply – you might be pleasantly surprised at the result and if you don’t, the answer is definitely a “no.”

Need Based aid is what you will sometimes hear people refer to as “Financial Aid” even though both Merit Based and Need Based aid technically fall under that overarching category. There are a variety of different Need Based aid programs which will require you to fill out the FAFSA in order to be considered for them and some which may ask for a CSS Profile. Grants are considered gift assistance – they give you money and you do not have to pay it back. Loans which can come from a wide variety of sources – the federal government, the college, and private banks is money that you are required to pay back. Work Study programs are on campus job opportunities that the government helps fund that allows you to earn money for college through working on campus. The big difference between Merit Based and Need Based aid is that Need Based aid is that the type and amount of Need Based aid you will receive depends upon the amount of financial need you have.

And, yes, just to add to the confusion – there are some scholarships that will consider financial need as a criterion. They are still awarding the scholarship based upon some specific aspect of who you are it is just allowing them to narrow down the potential applicant pool.

One last important reminder - NEVER pay to be considered for a scholarship! That is a scam. Don't waste your money!

Senior Reminder

I know that I have blogged about this before. I also sent an email to all of my senior students and parents to make sure you were aware. But please, do not forget... I will be out of town this weekend and will not be at school on Friday. So, if you are a senior who is applying to a college with a November 1st deadline, please be sure that you have invited me on Common App and submitted your transcript request form off the counselor website so that I have time to get all of my parts completed and turned in ahead of your deadline. Also, if you need me to look over any parts of your application, remember that this will also have to happen before the end of the day on Thursday.

I know that this timing isn't ideal with your November 1st deadlines, but I am current on all of the college applications that have been submitted to me already so we can do this! See me if you have any questions/ concerns. Also, every year I get the question about November 1st deadlines - if that is your deadline it means that your application must be turned in by 11:59pm Eastern Time. But I strongly encourage you NOT to procrastinate until the last possible second. Several years ago Common App experienced so much traffic in the final hour of November 1st that it had problems with applications getting submitted successfully... you don't want that to happen to you!

AP Exam Registration

By now, all students enrolled in an AP class should have “joined” the AP course online to be able to access resources from the CollegeBoard throughout the year. You will need your CollegeBoard account information to login and join the AP classes you are taking. (If you have taken the PSAT, SAT, or AP Exams in the past then you already have a CollegeBoard Account.)

If you have a CollegeBoard account, it is important to use that account (and not to create a new one) as your scores from previous CollegeBoard assessments (PSAT, SAT, AP exams) are linked to your account. If you already have established a CollegeBoard account, please visit myap.collegeboard.org and make certain that you can log in. If you have forgotten your password, you may call 1-888-225-5427 or email apstudents@info.collegeboard.org for assistance. 

If you have not already established a CollegeBoard student account, please sign up by going to myap.collegeboard.org. Make sure you write down and save your log-in information for future reference. Remember, when you are setting up your CollegeBoard account, you do NOT want to use your school email account as your wscloud account cannot accept emails from outside of the district.

If you have questions, about establishing your account or linking it to the AP resources, please contact College Board at 1-888-225-5427 or email apstudents@info.collegeboard.org. 

In addition to joining the class through CollegeBoard, students who are planning to take the AP test will need to sign up and pay for the test through the MyPaymentsPlus system. The cost of the test is $100 if students register prior to October 30th. After October 30th there is a $40 late fee up through February 20th. There are no options for ordering tests after the February 20th late registration deadline. Please also note that for students who qualify for free/ reduced lunch, you still need to register through the MyPaymentsPlus system, but it will automatically show your fee as $0 instead of $100.

AP Exams will take place at WKHS from May 4-15, 2026.

Please don't miss the chance to register as a way to help earn free college credit!

Cap & Gown Orders

Seniors, don't forget, the deadline to order your cap and gown at the discounted rate is October 31st.  You will go to Buckeye Scholastic's website in order to place your order.

Buckeye Scholastic has a ton of options that students can select of various specialty items such as announcements and frames.  I have had many students ask me what is REQUIRED to be ordered - that would be the Cap, Gown, Tassel and Stole package.  (No keepsake tassel required.)  So the total cost for that package is $42.95.

If you have a cap and gown that a sibling wore in the last few years that is the right size for you to wear, that is totally fine!  All you need to do is order the package that is the graduation tassel and stole.

It's so wild that it's time to be taking care of all of these official graduation related tasks!

Sports in College

Competing in sports during high school is such a huge part of many student's lives.  The hours of time that you dedicate to practice, the effort you put forth during games, and the friendships you have made through your involvement all combine together to make this one of the more significant areas of these four years.  It can be hard to imagine life without your sport, but the statistics are not encouraging - most high school athletes do not continue on to compete in college at the varsity level. But please don't let that news frustrate you because you can always find a different level of involvement so that athletics can continue to be a part of your life.  For example, most colleges offer a variety of ways that students can meet their athletic goals such as through club and intramural options.

Club sports are often competitive and frequently include tryouts.  They frequently will compete against other colleges and travel in season.  It is less intense of a time commitment than varsity sports at the college level, but still a rigorous athletic commitment.

Intramural sports are more about having fun.  Depending on the college, there may be different levels of intensity available for you to choose from on intramurals or they may have just one level for the sport. In addition to different levels of competitiveness of the teams, they may have some options that will be guys only, girls only, or mixed participation so you will find a lot of different intramural options.  This provides a great way to meet new people and to even have fun doing sports you have never tried before.  I also love that on many campuses there may be fun and creative intramural opportunities such as intertube water polo, quidditch, and broom-ball.

The biggest reminder that I have for you is that if you can't imagine your life without sports, please remember that there are always ways to find opportunities to meet those needs in your life.  If, for some reason, your college doesn't have the sport you love, maybe you will find a new sport to enjoy.  Or you may start to explore what adult leagues may be available that you could join in the community.  For example, if you are a hockey player, you might not be able to find club or intramural hockey at your campus, but there are adult hockey leagues that you could join.  

That leads me to the point that you may be thinking ahead to adjusting to life without sports after college... and so, as I just mentioned you can pursue adult leagues in the community, but if sports are really important to you it is worth considering how you can take those skills and aspects that you love and tie them into your career choices.  For example, if you are a highly competitive person who loves working on a team toward achieving a common goal, then hopefully you will work to find a job that will allow you to work cooperatively towards common goals in a competitive environment.  If you are someone who needs the physical activity to burn off stress or to help you focus, then hopefully you will consider either a job that has physical variety or you will make working out a primary commitment in your daily life.

For now, if you are finding yourself struggling with the idea of your competitive athletic career ending during high school, always feel free to come and talk to me as I know that this is a big adjustment.

OSU Branch Option

Do you have your heart set on attending OSU? But at the same time, are you intimidated by the size or competitiveness of OSU's Columbus campus? That is the case for many of our students which is what makes the Branch Campuses of OSU such a strong appeal. There are several different branch locations, but the 2 that most Kilbourne students tend to select are the Newark and Marion campuses.

From October 1st through December 1st OSU is allowing students to apply directly to a branch campus for free. Please note, this is not for applications to main campus and not through the Common App - it is just for applications directly to the branch campuses. This fee waiver from OSU saves students the $60 application fee which is huge. The code to be able to take advantage of OSU's branch campus application fee waiver is RCW2026.

The Branch campuses are also offering a tuition scholarship option for qualified students as they progress forward with their degree similar to the Buckeye Bridge program for students who start at CSCC.

I know that many of our students will start at a branch campus so if you are interested in that as a path, don't miss out on this application fee waiver opportunity.

Grades

Today was the first day of the 2nd quarter. (Yay!) I know there are a lot of students who have been/ are stressed out about their first quarter grades, but I want to remind you how grades, credits and GPA work.

Students earn credits each semester if their SEMESTER grade is passing. And the SEMESTER grades are the only grades which appear on the transcript and count into a student's cumulative GPA.

What makes up your semester grade? Each semester grade is calculated using the 2 quarter grades and the semester exam grade. Each quarter grade is worth 45% of your semester grade and your exam is worth 10% of your semester grade.

So, if you look at your 1st quarter grades, that equals 45% of your grade for the semester, but you still have 55% of your grade left to earn. Which means hope is never lost even if your grade isn't where you want it to be. However, if your grades aren't where they should or could be, you need to start making changes right away because it becomes more difficult to dig out of the hole with every passing day that you don't do well.  

A lot of students tend to be concerned that the exams could change their grade up or down a letter grade. And while yes, that is technically true, what we found was that most students performed about the same on their exam grade as they did in the classes. So you don't want to count on getting a 100% on your semester exam if you were getting F's all quarter long.

You're essentially at the half-way point for earning the grades that will be on your transcript and calculate into your GPA. Be sure that you are setting yourself up for success. Every day is a day to bring you one step closer to your goals. Try not to focus too much on the ending point and just do what needs to be done today to get you closer to where you want to be in the end.